navybankerteacher

Who cares about “votes”? If the topic, or posts, are interesting I will react/respond - based upon MY reaction to it, not the unexplained yes/no votes of others. A foolish experiment.

Makes sense - you can get an Uber estimate and compare it with what a local car service might charge.

Panama Canal or Quebec down the East Coast.

I might be inclined to prefer a long bus ride after a short tender ride over the reverse.

But the cruise lines do not want their ads to talk about sailing into Civita Vecchia, Livorno or Le Havre - which would be almost as much as a turn-off as mentioning that the cost of their “free” drinks has already been built into the fare - or that out-of-pocket tips might be added.

If you are likely to travel in the future and those Southwest credits do not expire soon, you might consider reserving them for a different trip (sort of like money in the bank) rather than incurring avoidable hassle and additional small costs on this one.

This thread shows the likelihood that mass-market cruising will start being shut out of more ports - local authorities are starting to realize that they are risking what makes their places special by letting them get Santorini-ed.

And, if you are at all interested in a good New York experience, there is very good reason NOT to stay at a hotel near the cruise terminal.

My son who travels for Dept. of Commerce, tells me there is a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City (old Saigon) whose awning is a favorite backdrop for Chinese wedding pictures - not necessarily the hotel.

What you describe is best, if briefly, referred to as a BRIBE. You are paying money to get something you believe you might not get without having paid that money.

I’ve been there three times - once on a ship (the only on in) with about 650 pax, once on a larger ship, with two others in port ,with a total of about 4,000, and once having come by ferry for two nights, but coping with about 7500 cruise pax one day - so we just sheltered in place with our retsina until they pulled out. The place is hardly recognizable on heavy cruise days. If true justice existed the cruise line managers would serve time for fraud for trucking in so many pigeons.

It is worth spending a few minutes checking on ships calling - at Santorini, for example, (population about 17,000) will on one day in this coming August have Costa Fascinosa (3012 pax), MSC Divina (3502 pax), Royal Caribbean Odyssey OTS (4198 pax), and Oceania Riviera (1250 pax) - in addition to perhaps a thousand or so folks visiting for a day of more by ferry or plane. On other days there might be just a thousand or so.

Only if your time is worth ANYTHING, and you are likely to fly at least once every two years.

I would be interested in hearing about the “ circumstances” that would make flying from Kansas City to EWR not as workable for a family with four young kids as flying to LGA to get to/from a cruise from Bayonne. They must be really special

You get what you pay for — and a lot of drivers do not figure the real total cost of driving.

You would prefer to drive from CT to Manhattan on a Friday morning?

Assuming you live reasonably near a Metro-North station, taking the train to Grand Central then a taxi to the cruise terminal seems best, certainly less expensive than driving and paying to park.

Depending upon how much of a discount booking air with NCL gives you, you might want to book your own flight separately - you would be close to certain to get better flight times, giving you the opportunity to maximize your visit to Boston.

I hope people coming to New York from the south today on Amtrak for a cruise have a workable “plan B” - service still suspended.

You believe the co-ed sauna is for men?

It would be a lot more than “pushing it”. That’s why San Juan might work.

February, even in south Florida, can be chilly. Any 3 or 4 day cruise (aside from likely being a booze fest stopping at a (possibly chilly) Bahamas port. Think about flying to San Juan - beautiful old city, good beaches, pretty certain warm weather.

Also, a bit further back, non- urgent communication could be done via US mail

Probably $20-$25.

It always amazes me that people will spend thousands of dollars to see a different part of the world, and then fail to make an effort to identify particular items of interest and plan on how to see those of greatest interest. With the internet and libraries providing so much information, so many will rely on cut rate tours.